Senator Bernie Sanders Forced to Clarify That He’s Not a Stoner

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At some point every presidential candidate has to answer the increasingly irrelevant “Did you inhale?” question, and thanks to President Obama, that moment came early for Senator Bernie Sanders. At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Obama joked about Sanders entering the 2016 Democratic primary, saying, “Apparently some folks want to see a pot-smoking socialist in the White House. We could get a third Obama term after all.” In an interview with Yahoo News’ Katie Couric on Monday, Sanders explained that the joke is only half true: While he identifies as a “Democratic socialist,” he’s not a fan of marijuana. “Because I coughed a lot, I don’t know,” he said. “I smoked marijuana twice — didn’t quite work for me.” But even though weed isn’t for him, Sanders would still like pot heads to give him a chance. While he hasn’t worked out his “final opinion” on legalization, he believes marijuana should be mostlydecriminalized.